Can anyone see the benefits Shane Kersten brings to the team?

May 3, 2007
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Jeebus.... You lot are judging certain players after a round 1 belting away from home. Lets be Brutally honest here, we need all the help we can get when it comes to goal scoring.

I am in the minority. I like him. But he can be a solid contributor in our 22. I want him to play 20 games again. But lets look back at his last 2 seasons. In 2016, he was At Geelong. He kicked 22 goals and 15 behinds from 18 games. Now this was interesting. He kicked 4 goals in a game admittedly vs a struggling suns team. He also kicked 3 goals a few times vs Brisbane, Crows, West coast and North Melbourne. Kicked 2 goals twice, kicked 1 goal twice and was held goal less 8 times. So at his best he could kick 3-4 goals in a game as a 2nd tall. at worst, he will get 10 disposals and wont trouble the scorers. He fell out of favour late in the season and didn't play finals in 2016 as his last 3 games before the finals he was held goal less in 2 of them and kicked 1 goal in the other.

In 2017, he played his 1st season at freo. He kicked 26 goals and 14 behinds from 20 games last year. That's very good. Not in the Chris Mayne type accuracy where he kicked 39 goals and 7 behinds in 2012 and 35 goals 10 in 2013. Yes he had some good games. He kicked that match winner in that game vs North at subi. He was serviceable in that rounds 3-9 period where we won 6 of those 7 games.

as for goal kicking, He kicked 2 goals 8 times so that's 16 goals there. He kicked 3 goals vs GWS. that was his best game for freo so that brings it up to 19. So that means he kicked 1 goal 5 times.

Here is how I see it... On a good day if freo wins, Kersten would kick 2-3 goals, possibly 4. If Freo get thumped, he will get a handful of disposals. Saying that I have a feeling he will play all 22 games an kick 31 goals and 13 behinds from 44 set shots

I have this gut feeling this will end up like the Tabs thread and this will go 100 pages in debating on how good or bad he is.
 

Mike I

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Kersten brings versatility and his output has been alright.

I personally didn’t have him in the Round 1 side, but I could see the plan to rotate Kersten to the wing when Mundy or Fyfe were forward.

Team selection usually doesn’t make much sense in the early rounds to an outsider without access to data which would advise on readiness to play, but over the course of the season you would think that Logue and Cox offer similar versatility but project higher longer term and surely we will need to check out what Duman offers at AFL at some point.
 

ydraw

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But lets look back at his last 2 seasons. In 2016, he was At Geelong. He kicked 22 goals and 15 behinds from 18 games.

So what you're saying is that he averaged just over a goal a game as a permanent forward in a top 4 team that averages 25 more points per game than Freo.
 
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So what you're saying is that he averaged just over a goal a game as a permanent forward in a top 4 team that averages 25 more points per game than Freo.
Ydraw, Its Ironic isn't it. As you are the number 1 fan of another talked about forward in freo that is Matt Tarberner. Oh and for the record I was a fence sitter on tabs from 2013-15. From 2016 onwards I am Pro tabs.

But Back on the topic.... Yes, he averages just a goal a game. But Heres the thing I want to bring up. Kersten came 1-2 years too late, He could of been useful in our 2013-15 run. Similar to Brad Hill and Joel Hamling, We could of got him late in the 2011 Draft too.

Freo had picks 16, 20 and 29.Freo used those picks Tom Sheridan, Hayden Crozier and Alex Forster. Hamling and Brad Hill and Shane kersten all came after pick 30 at picks 32, 33 and 34 respectively.

Now.... I know what Kersten is Capable of. He can kick 3-4 goals a game when freo is good. If He kicks 3 goals in 4 games in a row, that is 12 goals. If he averages 2 scoring shots a game, that's 44 scoring shots from 22 games.

I will assure you this. If He plays 22 games this year and gets 44 scoring shots, I see him kicking at a minimum 30 goals and 14 behinds. That might not be much. But when it comes to a close game, like that round 5 win over North At Subi, then that is a difference maker. As I said, its not beyond him to kick 30-35 goals in a season. If he does that, he will have a spot in freos 22 now, unless we have a KPF/Ruck that could do the same thing or a gun 20-25 goal a season mid.

If you are Taberners Biggest number 1 fan on the freo board, Then I will be Shane Kerstens number 1 fan on the freo board too.

If Tabs can slowly win the Freo fans over So can Shane.:)
 
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Would take the mark up forward and then spray the thing out on the full from 30m in front unfortunately.
Are you sure about that Kram? Brennan Cox kicked 4 goals from 10 games. I swear he nailed a couple of good goals from set shots. Griffen Logues only goal he kicked last year was a set shot vs North at Subi
 

blue shark

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If he is not kicking or any goal assists what is the point? For all of Maynes faults at least he offered some defensive pressure. 0 tackles, Ross in the
past would of nailed him to the mast on that effort alone.
 
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If he is not kicking or any goal assists what is the point? For all of Maynes faults at least he offered some defensive pressure. 0 tackles, Ross in the
past would of nailed him to the mast on that effort alone.

Well he allows our youth to play for Peel and get experience. ******* selfless campaigner he is...

Well we don't have a lot of quality up forward don't we? I got a feeling he will get one more shot vs Essendon.
 
Jan 14, 2008
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Not after all the specialist skills training and extra skills sessions over the off season. He's improved out of sight.

I know you're being sarcastic but Freo do have skills sessions incl kicking. I've seen it many times. The players do not translate practice into game day. I can't work out why the hell not. The coaching panel obviously don't send the team out to butcher the ball.
 

Frigate

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It is tough to judge any of our forwards for the 2017-this year. The delivery into the 50 is horrendous. Last year was just a write off, so I do not read to much into it. We had a lot of entries into our 50 on the weekend early in the game, however again the game plan seemed to be to rush a bomb into the 50. If we do this, then Kersten has no role in this team.

On the other hand, if we are going to be more patient and hit a target inside 50 with a 15-20m kick to a lead, then yeah he could have a role. But from what I saw on the weekend, we need small forwards surrounding this contest - and for ffs get someone goal side, if nothing else to halve the rebounding opportunity.

Also if Kersten can be a link a player by leading maybe, but I have not seen it. He understandably had a better 2016 than 2017. So I guess the only way Kersten gets a guernsey is to take 6 marks a game at a minimum, have the occasional 10 mark game, but 3 is simply not acceptable for a KPP. This is something he has always struggled with, but if he can't do that as a KPP then he needs to go back to WAFL.

At 25, he has time, but he needs to start this year. He has had the occasional good game, so I am happy to persevere in the short term, and given Port dominated us, I am also writing off the Essendon game, as I think our skills and decisions were woeful. Cam Mac did impress with his work rate - if I see the work rate, then I am more supportive of a game that is nothing special. Kersten seems like a bit of floater, I do not notice him much as he is not really an impact player.

Not sure if that makes sense, but it appears I am on the fence.
 

Joeltownsmith

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He looked ok in jlt2 when we got a heap of inside 50s and they reckon forward line performance is always a by product of the midfield...
 

Freo Hitman

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I am glad you asked this question.
A soft underbelly , soft turnovers & a s**t haircut . Would be overlooked everyday of the week as a target for local amateur cubs for under the table payments
 
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I like him. Has speed and can kick. I'd persist simply because I think his problem is between the ears and that may click at some point. Also not holding out a lot at this stage - at least not until the big Dix is ready.

We are the worst forward line to play in as well. I think all of our forwards will look better once the mids and defenders figure out how to kick it to their advantage more often.
 
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